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Planning and Designing Courses with Moodle

Workshop Fall 2009

Nasreen Rahim

2

History of Virtual Classroom

The original Virtual Classroom program was launched by AT&T in the fall of 1996. During the period of 1996 through 2000, over 19,000 students from dozens of countries around the world used it to collaborate, communicate and learn about them, and about the Internet.

Virtual Classroom is an environment designed to facilitate teachers in the management of educational courses for their students, especially a system using computer hardware and software, which involves distance learning. A virtual learning environment is often referred to as a Learning Management System/ Course Management System where teacher and students normally work over the Internet and provide a collection of tools such as those for assessment, communication,

uploading of content, return of students' work, peer assessment, administration of student groups, collecting and organizing student grades, questionnaires, tracking tools, etc. New features in these systems include wikis, blogs, RSS and 3D virtual learning spaces.

3

Best Practices for Online Learning

An online or virtual classroom can be effective when the teacher plays the role of a facilitator. That role is identified by three functional categories:

"Guide on the Side" Instructor or project leader Group process facilitator

"Guide on the Side" An online facilitator can be overwhelmed with online tasks such as email conversations with each participant (unlimited office hours!) if the teacher is in the center of numerous private conversations. The "guide on the side" model encourages interactions among the students by monitoring and shaping conversations and refraining from extensive direct interaction. When the instructor is the focal point of all communication, or the "sage on the stage", teaching is cumbersome and less productive. As a "guide on the side", the facilitator supports learning and communication among the participants themselves.

Instructor or Project Leader Online courses will not replace teachers and does not change the instructor's central importance in learning. As a content expert, instruction is enhanced if you are also skilled at moderating. Content experts can deepen the discussion and maintain a forward movement in the dialogue and enrich the learning with collaboration.

Group Process Leader In addition to the two facilitator roles described, moderating a group as a whole is critical for successful collaboration. As a facilitator, all participants must be drawn in and focused on constructive paths of learning. An online community is only possible if its members are active and posting.

A group process leader must take on or appropriately delegate:

Leading introductory, community-building activities Providing virtual "hand holding" to the digitally challenged Acknowledging the diversity of participants' backgrounds and interests Infusing personality with tone, graphics, and humor Maintaining a nurturing pace of responding Keeping up with the pace set Organizing posts and discussion threads Balancing private email and public discussion

4

Content Delivery in Moodle

The two most frequently used menu for content delivery in Moodle are: Add an activity and Add a resource drop down menus.

Add an activity drop-down menu

Adding an activity tool involves clicking the drop down menu for activities and selecting the required activity tool. This will then open the settings page for that particular activity. The choice of activity depends on the course and the teacher. There are a number of

interactive learning activity modules that you may add to your course.

Content may be delivered and supported using Lesson module and SCORM activities. Key words can be added to Glossaries by yourself or, if you allow it, your students.

Work can be submitted by students and marked by teachers using Assignments or Workshops. Automatic marking can be achieved by using Quizzes. You can even integrate your Hot Potato quizzes by adding a Hotpot activity.

Surveys and Databases are also very powerful additions to any course.

Communication and collaboration may take place using Chats and Forums for conversational activities and Choices

to gain group feedback. Adding Wikis to your courses is an excellent way to allow students to work together on a single piece.

5

Add a resource drop down menu

Moodle supports a range of different resource types that allow you to include almost any kind of digital content into your courses. These can be added by using the Add a resource dropdown box when editing is turned on.

A Text page is a simple page written using plain text. Text pages aren't pretty, but they're a good place to put some information or instructions. If you are after more options for your new page then you should be thinking about adding a Web page and making use of Moodle's WYSIWYG editor.

Of course the resource may already exist in electronic form so you may want to link to an uploaded file or external website or simply display the complete contents of a directory in your course files and let your users pick the file themselves. If you have an IMS content package then this can be easily added to your course.

Use a label to embed instructions or information in the course section.

Blocks

Each course homepage generally contains blocks on the left and right with the centre column containing the course content. Blocks may be added, hidden, deleted, and moved up, down and left/right when editing is turned on. Examples of blocks can be see in the Getting Starting image above. "Latest News", "Upcoming Events", and "Recent Activity" are blocks.

A wide range of blocks exist that can provide additional information or functionality to the learner or teacher. There are both standard blocks that come with Moodle and many contributed blocks developed by Moodlers that an administrator can add to a Moodle site.

6

Administration Blocks

Settings in the administration block allow teachers to manage student and teacher enrollments and their groups, view the course gradebook, create custom grading scales, upload Files and access the Teacher_forum. Some teachers will find the Reset course, backup, Restore and Import (course data) very handy tools when creating similar courses. Naturally a teacher will want to define their grading scales , look at Grades and create Reports. This block also gives access to a question database, used in quizzes/tests or in Lesson module.

The links in the administration block are only available to teachers of the course. Students will receive their own version of the block which will display a link to their own gradebook and, if enabled, their own course logs. As a teacher, you can change the way students (and other teachers) access and view your course by exploring the Course_settings option in the administration block.

For example the course settings allow the teacher format the course which determines how the center sections appear. The weekly format is suitable for courses that have a clear start date and activities are presented in weekly blocks. A topic formatted course has no dates, so activities and resources can grouped by subject or for an open enrollment class. The social format doesn't use much content at all and is based around just one forum which is displayed on the main course page.

Another useful feature of the administration block is the Files link. From here you can upload (rename, move, delete) any digital content for inclusion in an activity, resource, or for a direct download by the students. You can also create a directory(s) for students and link it as a resource.

7

Effective Class Interaction

Communication and Student Support Worksheet Print and save this worksheet. This worksheet will help you determine the course communication tools and course infrastructure tools and materials that you may need in your online course. Check the tools/methods/materials that apply to your course in the Include column. You can edit the worksheet to add any items. Add rows by using the Tab Key in the last cell of the table. Use this worksheet to help you develop the Syllabus for your online course.

Communication and Student Support Worksheet

Include? Page/ Component Description Tool, Resource, or Method

Email Email contact for instructor.

Student email roster?

Most course management

systems have student-to-

student and student-to-

instructor email features

Discussion Allows students to post and answer

questions.

CMS Discussion board or

third-party tool.

Chat Allows students/instructor to chat in real-

time.

Most CMS have a

synchronous chat feature and

may include white board and

other real-time features.

Distance Learning / Orientation

Information

Additional information may be needed for first time online students such as self-

assessment quizzes/questionnaires to

determine if online learning is for them.

This information may already be available through your

institution. Link to resources.

Introductory or Welcome

email.

Home Page/

Introduction/ or

Welcome Page

This page may include a course

description, a general introduction or a

welcome to the course and can explain

policies, procedures, how to get around the

course and adds the “human touch”.

Some CMS have a Welcome

Page or opening

Announcement page or this

can be the opening HTML

page of a Web site.

Announcements This can be a way to give current, changed

information, and general announcements to

students.

HTML page, Word

document, PDF file. Some

CMS have an Announcement

tool or area.

Policies Course policies or “rules of the online

learning community” may be helpful such

as netiquette, etc.

HTML page, Word

document, PDF file.

Requirements and Grading

Grading scale, course requirements and information on how students will be

evaluated.

HTML page, Word document, PDF file.

Course Goals and

Objectives

List on own page or part of the home page

or syllabus.

HTML page, Word

document, PDF file.

Reading Materials /

Required Text

List on own page or syllabus. HTML page, Word

document, PDF file.

Prerequisite skills or

requirements

If your course has prerequisites, list them

in a separate are or page.

HTML page, Word

document, PDF file.

Hardware and

Software

If you have special technology

requirements, list them in a separate area

HTML page, Word

document, PDF file.

8

Requirements or page.

Course Calendar A calendar format may be useful to

structure your class and assignments.

HTML page, Word

document, PDF file.

Some CMS have a calendar

tool.

Syllabus Provides easy access to the class schedule

and syllabus.

HTML page, Word

document, PDF file. Some

CMS have a Syllabus tool.

Study Aids/

Handouts

Provide study aids and handouts if needed. HTML page, Word

document, PDF file.

Assignments Give students instructions on how to

submit assignments. An assignment table

may be helpful that summarizes

assignments by unit and date.

HTML page, Word

document, PDF file.

Library and

Information Resources

Provide institution resource information if

students need these resources to complete assignments.

HTML page, Word

document, PDF file.

External Resources (Web links)

Provide external resources to enhance your lecture material.

HTML page, Word document, PDF file. Some

CMS have an external link

area or tool.

Posted Student

Grades

Allowing students to view their grades at

any time may be helpful. This usually

entails using a CMS gradebook.

Most CMS have an area

where students can view their

grades.

FAQ If you have taught the class before, a list of

frequently asked questions and answers

may be helpful and reduce the instructor

workload.

HTML page, Word

document, PDF file.

Faculty/ Staff

Information

Office Hours

Email contact

Office Location

Policy on email responses

Bio Picture

Web site link

Give the student all of the contact

information that they may need. This is

also a good opportunity to add the “human

touch”.

HTML page, Word

document, PDF file. Some

CMS have a Staff

Information section or tool.

Quizzes/ Testing Give students any instructions needed for

taking online tests.

HTML page, Word

document, PDF file.

9

Add Discussion Forum

When you decide to use a discussion forum as an activity in an e-learning environment

it is important to be aware that your time will be needed in some sense in order to make

the activity successful. If your goal is to encourage discussion, the forum will only work

if:

1. participants feel there is a need/reason to participate and they will gain

something from the experience. Incentives for learning, gathering support, etc.

should be explored and encouraged early on in order to clearly convey the

purpose of the forum to others. Anyone considering offering grades or marks for

participation is advised to think very carefully about the difference between

quantity and quality of discussions in forums.

2. a sense of community and purpose can be fostered amongst participants. This

sense of community can be fostered through tutor/teacher initiative and

scaffolding, or primarily through the students/participants themselves depending

on the intentions of the activity.

Moodle has four kinds of forums each with a slightly different layout and purpose.

Which of the forums will best suit your needs for a particular activity? In order to answer this question it is useful to think how you might lead such a discussion in a face-to-face environment. Would you throw the question out to the class and sit back to observe them in their answers? Or would you break them up into smaller groups first and ask them to have discussions with a partner before bringing them back to the main group? Or perhaps you would like to keep them focused on a particular aspect of a question and ensure that they do not wander away from the topic at hand? All of the above approaches are both valid and useful, depending on your learning outcomes, and you can replicate all of them in Moodle forums.

1. A single simple discussion 2. Each person posts one discussion 3. Standard forum for general use 4. Question and Answer forum

10

ADA Issues in Distance Education

As technology is used to communicate, it poses both benefits and issues for students with disabilities. While the technology can be adapted or designed to include individuals with disabilities, inadequate or lack of any accessible design can impose new barriers to full participation in educational opportunities.

People with low vision, those who are blind, who have cognitive limitations, or who have limited physical mobility may have great difficulty in utilizing these online learning opportunities. While educational entities must comply with civil rights laws, such as Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, many of these entities are designing inaccessible online learning resources.

The beneficial effects of accessible distance learning using multimedia forms of communication—text, video, audio, synthetic speech—is that with skillful integration, they can meet the needs of different sensory disabilities, and, at the same time, they can enrich communication for persons with different learning styles. This, it takes thoughtful planning by the teacher (or online course developer) to use the technologies to meet everyone’s needs.

Since most of these distance-learning courses are web-based curricula, the web design must ensure that audio, graphics, and video clips are accessible to people with sensory or cognitive disabilities. For example, a person who is deaf will not be able to access the audio or video clip on a website unless the audio portion is also provided in captioned format. A person who is blind or who has learning disabilities cannot navigate a web page that is not coded to convey web content to text browsers and screen readers.

In fact, many providers on inaccessible online curricula may not be aware that their materials are inaccessible, called "discrimination by inadvertence" by the National Council on Disability’s report, The Accessible Future (June 2001).

To address the need for accessibility and distance learning opportunities, in August 1999 the Chancellor’s Office of the California Community Colleges released its guidelines, Distance Education: Access Guidelines for Students with Disabilities. This action was in response to the Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, Web accessibility complaints. These guidelines are now considered a model for the nation.

Moodle Accessibility Specification

This accessibility specification has been developed by accessibility experts and Moodle developers at the Open University (OU), UK. The OU has adopted Moodle as a core component of its Virtual Learning Environment and is contributing to the continued Open Source (OS) development of Moodle. Accessibility is an important for the OU because: it currently has over 9,300 disabled students.

11

Accessibility is a term that has particular meanings in different contexts; here it refers to design qualities that endeavor to make online learning available to all by ensuring that the way it is implemented does not create unnecessary barriers however the student may interact with their computer. Virtually anyone, irrespective of any disability, can be enabled to interact effectively with a computer. Some people with disabilities interact with the computer using methods other than the conventional monitor, keyboard and mouse, some require special tools, usually referred to as “assistive technology”, and some need the way content is presented to them by the computer to be appropriate to their needs (for example in terms of font sizes and/or color contrast).

There are well established design principles for accessibility in software design and electronic content. These promote compatibility with assistive technology and ensure that different ways of interacting with the computer can be accommodated. This specification highlights further development work required in Moodle if these principles are to be considered effectively implemented across its various tools and modules.

This Accessibility Specification is concerned with meeting the needs of disabled people who may be users of Moodle in whatever role they have, student, teacher, systems administrator, etc. However many accessibility approaches also yield benefits to all users and some help those working in particular circumstances such as working on a small screen PDA or over a low bandwidth link.